Persuading: Being Buoyant in the Face of Rejection

Chapter 5 in Daniel Pink's book To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others is titled "Buoyancy." It is the second chapter of Part II in the book titled, "How To Be."

Many of you reading this post are teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators who are leading the way in integrating technology effectively.  As we are on our journey, how many of you can describe situations similar to that of a door-to-door salesman.  “He found door-to-door selling especially brutal.  These rejections came fast and ferociously, often in the form of a rude comment and a slammed door.” (Page 99 of 260, Loc 1190, Kindle App for iPad)  Now I’ve never had a teacher slam a door in my face but many emails go unnoticed.

In order to stay positive in our quest to integrate effectively, Daniel Pink suggests we stay buoyant.

1) Have Interrogative Self-Talks – Example – How can I best persuade the teacher to have his/her students write online?  “Can I move these people.” (page 117, Loc 1399)

2) Positivity Ratios – Be positive about what you are trying persuade teachers to do.  Negative emotions narrow people’s vision while positivity broadens it. (page 105, Loc 1286).  Also, you need to believe in the positive effect that technology integration has on the learning for students.

3) Optimistic Explanatory Style – “View your rejections as temporary rather than permanent, specific rather than universal, and external rather than personal.” (page 111, Loc 1369)

Practicing buoyancy is going to be important for me.  Many times, like today, I get dismayed when only a handful of teachers welcome me into their classrooms to share ideas of technology integration.  However, I need to be positive, have interrogative self-talks before entering a building, and be optimistic to help myself be persistent through the tough days.

Yes!! I'm An Ambivert!!!

Chapter 4 in Daniel Pink's book To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others is titled "Attunement."  It is the first chapter of Part II in the book titled, "How To Be."

How often as curriculum coaches, teachers, and administrators due we take the perspective of those we work with into mind?  When I'm introducing a new technology to teachers, do I take into account what they want or need or have time to do?  When administrators add a new rule, do they first think of its consequences on teachers or students?  When we teach a lesson to students on a topic, do we take the time to see how they view it?  I think all of us need to take just a little more time and understand the perspective of the people we are trying to sell an idea too.

Perspective = If you want to persuade someone, understand their perspective.

As a technology coach, I have a responsibility to convince teachers to integrate technology effectively into their lessons and transform how a lot of them have been teaching for many years.  I also do a lot of professional learning sessions including how to use the district's new online assessment software and using social media responsibly.  As I read the chapter, I asked myself if I take into account the teacher's perspective as I prepare and deliver these professional learning activities.

Tomorrow I have to deliver professional learning to high school teachers using the district's assessment software to create tests.  After reading this chapter, here are some strategies from the chapter I will use to "sell" the teachers on using the software.

1. Amazon - Yes, the company Amazon. When the higher ups in the company have a meeting, they always leave one chair empty.  This chair represents us the consumer and reminds them not to forget us.  I will have two empty chairs in planning;  one is for the teachers and the second is for students.
2. Be confident that I am an ambivert.  I have know for the past 20 years that I was more on the introvert side of the introvert/extrovert scale.  I have never been shy but was never the center of attention as well.  At a party or meeting with strangers, I am always quiet and reflective of the group before opening my mouth to make suggestions. You would think to convince others you have to be an extrovert, but I learned in this chapter, that us, ambiverts, are more powerful at selling.  We are in the middle and not on the extreme edges.
3. Mimic the mannerisms of the group.  When a teacher asks a question, pay attention to him/her.  Repeat the question they ask, if they lean in then I lean in, if they cross their arms then cross my arms.
4. Assume I'm in a position of lower power.  This will help me better understand the teacher's perspective as I teach them.

Are you an ambivert?  Check out Daniel Pink's assessment to see if you are.

Caveat Magistra/Magister: Teacher Beware

Chapter 3 in Daniel Pink's book To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others is titled "From Caveat Emptor to Caveat Venditor."

When I bought my first truck 15 years ago and again when I bought my second truck 10 years ago, I went to the dealerships without any information.  The dealer had all of the information about the trucks, and I was at their mercy.  Daniel Pink would refer to this as Caveat Emptor, buyer beware.  However, when my wife and I bought our SUV 5 years ago, I had researched the same brand from dealers around the state and had print outs of the competitors similar makes and models.  Five years ago the roles had reversed to Caveat Venditor, seller beware.  I had all of the information necessary to make an informed decision as what to buy.

When I was going through high school in the late 80's and beginning my teaching career in the early 90's, it was Caveat Discipulus, or student beware.  The teacher had all of the information and knowledge of the subject area.  Students went to school to learn this knowledge from their teacher, a textbook, and an encyclopedia.  Now let's fast forward to 2013 and it has become Caveat Magistra/Magister, teacher beware.  The roles have reversed and the student has access to as much or more information than the teacher.  The teacher is no longer the sole holder of the knowledge.

"Today's, it's possible for a motivated secondary school student with Internet access to know more about the causes of the Peloponnesian War or how to make a digital film than his teacher...Today's educators and health care professionals can no longer depend on the quasi-reverence that information asymmetry often afforded them.  When the balance tilts in the opposite direction, what they do and how they do it must change." (page 58, Loc 742, Kindle app for iPad)

I have believed for a few years that students no longer must be given Power Points to copy for 90 minutes because they have access to information, and I argue too much information.  Our responsibility as educators to to teach students what to do with all of this information.  How to find correct information, understand it, analyze it, compare it, and create an argument using the information.

Influencing, Persuading, and Changing Behavior

Chapter 2 in Daniel Pink's book To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others is titled "Entrepreneurship, Elasticity, and Ed-Med."  As an educator, there are two quotes that make we stop and pause.  The first:

"We try to espouse the philosophy that everyone the customer touches is effectively a salesperson," says Cannon-Brookes.  At Atlassian, sales- in this case, traditional sales-isn't anyone's job.  It's everyone's job." (page 34, Loc 440, Kindle app for iPad)

This past summer district leaders, including principals and high school teachers, had several days of professional development called "Capturing Kids' Hearts" taught by the Flippen Group.  This professional development taught us techniques on getting closer to our students and showing how we care for them.  The quote above relates to this but also expands the idea of Capturing a Kid's Heart to the entire school staff including custodial staff, office staff, etc.  All of us in the schools are responsible for making a successful school climate.

The second quote is:

"Health care and education both revolve around non-sale selling: the ability to influence, to persuade,  and to change behavior while striking a balance between the others want and what you can provide them." (page 42, Loc 542, Kindle app for iPad)

Go into any school, locate an excellent teacher, and the trait of influencing, persuading, and changing behavior will be found in that teacher.  The teacher does not persuade his or her students with a stick or carrot, but is able to change behavior by learning about that student and making the curriculum relevant to that student.  One of the teachers mentioned in this chapter is Larry Ferlazzo.  His blog, "Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day", is one I read and follow when I get a chance, and I suggest all educators have his blog in your Reader account.  He also has a strong presence on Twitter @Larryferlazzo.

I am enjoying this book a lot and look forward to the next chapter.

Chapter 1 Summary: To Sell Is Human... by Daniel Pink

As a instructional technology coach, I spend most of my days trying to convince teachers and administrators to integrate more technology effectively into their lessons and their schools.  In other words, I'm trying to sell them an idea or a new way of thinking.  I truly believe that integrating technology effectively into everyday lessons is imperative if we live up to our goal to produce lifelong learners and productive members of our society.  The difficult part is getting my message through to the teachers and administrators that I work with.

Daniel Pink has written a new book which deals with all of us, especially in education, are salespeople of ideas.  Each day we do our best to convince young people that reading, writing, arithmetic, social studies, etc. are important to their lives.  In his new book, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, Daniel Pink explores the idea that most of us are sales people.  In the Introduction he states, "But all of you are likely spending more time than you realize selling in a broader sense-pitching colleagues, persuading funders, cajoling kids.  Like it or not, we're all in sales now." 

 

Part I "Rebirth of a Salesman", Chapter 1 "We're All in Sales Now" 

 

Mr. Pink begins the chapter by telling the story of Norman Hall who is Fuller Brush Salesman.  Now being 42, I should remember a Fuller Brush Salesman coming to my hometown in Greene, New York, but the memory escapes me.  However, I do remember vacuum cleaner salesmen, the Charles Chips guy, and the two encyclopedia sets my parents bought.  Norman, as a door to door salesman, must convince people to buy brushes in his catalog, and it is a lost art.  As Mr. Pink points out, whatever I want to buy in 2013 I go to the Internet and buy the item much like I bought this book.  I read reviews online, saw posts on Twitter, and purchased the book through Amazon for my app without ever having to leave the comfort of my home.


The next part of the chapter reveals stats of many sales people are in some countries around the world.  Mr. Pink references 1 in 9 Americans are in direct sales, but as he points out, most of the rest of us are in indirect sales for example, "Teachers sell students on the value of paying attention in class."  In a study he conducted, 40% of us spend our time at work persuading, influencing, and convincing others but more powerful, we consider this time crucial to our work. (Chapter 1, "The Rise of Non-Sales Selling").

I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter and the ones after.  After all, my job and responsibility is to sell to teachers and administrators the value of effectively integrating technology into the classroom.